This morning, we discussed prayer from the Sermon on the Mount and how Jesus taught the disciples to pray. I wanted to continue a discussion of prayer, but from a theological perspective.

Tonight, we are going to look at how each Person of the Trinity is involved in prayer and how they make prayer possible!

Pray to the Father.

Throughout Scripture, we see the role of the Father as the One who plans and organizes and who has ultimate authority. God is the King at whose right hand Jesus is sitting. He is the ultimate decision-maker.

Pray with humility, because He knows what you need.

“Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matt 6:8)

God is omniscient and knows everything you think, feel, want, and like. But if God already knows what I need, it may seem that there is no need to pray to Him. Why did Jesus tell us to pray then? The only answer is that God wants us to vocalize our thoughts and desires.

Do not pray for show, but in secret (Matt 6:6). Prayer teaches us to be humble and trust in God for what we need—not ourselves.

Praying to God is an appeal in faith to His ultimate authority and power.

Pray for blessings, because He will give you what is good

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!” (Matt 7:7-11)

God is kind and loves you very much. He wants to bless you! Jesus seems to suggest that those who do not ask, seek, and knock will not receive, find, or be let in.

How many blessings do we forego every day because we don’t ask?

There is no good thing you can ask for that is outside of God’s power to grant. The ability to pray to the Father is humbling and amazing to think about. There’s an illustration that always comes to my mind:

I have a friend from college who was extremely well connected. She would get into events and make things happen that seemed impossible to me. When I’d ask, she would shrug her shoulders and remark, “Oh, the Chancellor of the University is a friend of mine.”

How much more amazing is it that we have a direct connection with the Architect of the Universe?

When you pray, remember that God really is our Father; He is listening, He loves you, and He wants to bless you.

Pray through the Son.

What about praying to Jesus?

In His farewell discourse, Jesus explained to the disciples is that His role was going to change after His ascension. He had been their close friend for three years, but after His death and ascension, He wasn’t going to be with them anymore…at least not in the same way.

Knowing this, He warned and prepared them ahead of time in John 13–16. Here’s one of the things He mentions:

“In that day you will no longer ask me anything. Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.” (John 16:23–24 NIV)

Up to that point, they could ask him for anything, and they often did. But that part of their relationship will be different.

This is just like how Jesus often forgave sins on the spot while He was on earth, but after His ascension, this was limited to the plan He put in place.

If Jesus is God, shouldn’t we be praying to Him too? We pray to the Father because of His role—which applies to prayer, too!

Note also that Jesus spoke of praying “in His Name,” or by His authority. Sometimes we include a statement in our prayers alluding to this instruction. Adding “In Jesus’ Name” before the amen is not what Jesus is talking about, but it does stem from a recognition of the authority of Christ and the fact that He makes prayer possible for us.

Pray with confidence, because Jesus makes it possible

Jesus’s role is not to be on the receiving end of prayer, but in the middle, mediating between us and the Father.

“For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Tim 2:5)

As the God-man, Jesus is able to bring us together with God, allowing us to converse with Him.

When Jesus became a man, He voluntarily relinquished His divine power—not His nature or authority, but His power. He does not need to use omnipotent power, however, because His role is focused on connecting us to God!

Jesus makes it possible for us to pray to God and know that He hears us!

Pray for forgiveness, because Jesus’s blood is active!

“If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John 1:7–2:1)

Even though we still sin as Christians, Jesus’s blood cleanses us and allows us to pray to God during those times. We can confess our failings and insufficiencies to God and He will forgive us.

A huge part of prayer should be confessing our inadequacy and exalting God’s supremacy.

Being a disciple of Jesus means we are failures alone, but righteous through Christ! Be thankful for the communion we have with God.

Pray by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit plays just as critical a role in ensuring prayer is possible!

• The Father is constantly listening and receiving our prayers.
• Jesus is constantly mediating our prayers.
• The Holy Spirit is constantly informing our prayers.

Back in John 16, Jesus expressed that our prayers to God will be heard and answered. In Matthew 7, He said we would receive what we request. But do we really receive everything?

This does not mean or imply that every prayer is acceptable or heard. Some prayers are not received—even when requested by Christians. We can only know how to pray by the communication of how to pray.

Pray with proper motives.

“You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world sets himself as an enemy of God.” (Jas 4:3–4)

Here, James makes a negative statement about those who ask improperly.

It’s wrong to pray just seeking to fulfill your own pleasures. This selfish prayer is not pleasing to God at all!

Pray for proper things.

“And the prayer offered in faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.” (Jas 5:15)

Here, he makes a positive statement: God responds to requests for things He would approve of.

Just as with the previous passage, we see that proper prayer aligns with His will.

This brings us to the important question: how can we know God’s will? I hope the answer is clear.

Pray in proper ways.

We can learn all of this from the examples in Scripture.

“But to us God revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the depths of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the depths of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.” (1 Cor 2:10–11)

The Spirit of God has revealed the thoughts and will of God to us. He has enshrined this knowledge and wisdom in the Scriptures.

One of the chief ways we can learn to pray in a way that pleases God is to mimic the prayers He has chosen to record for us. Read the prayers of Abraham, of Moses, of Hannah, of David, of Solomon, of Jeremiah, of Nehemiah, of Jesus, of Paul! Study New Testament passages that talk about prayer.

Often we learn from listening to the prayers we hear in the assembly—how much better to learn from Scripture! The Holy Spirit has taught us how to pray and how to conform our prayers to the will of God.

Without His guidance through the inspired word, we would not even know to pray to God, let alone know how!

Pray in accordance with God’s will so that your prayers may be answered—you will grow closer to God and you will be blessed!

Every Person of the Trinity is intimately involved in our prayers!

They work in unison to allow prayer, whether we consciously realize it or not.

The Father is constantly listening and answering, ready to bless us and care for us. He knows our needs but He is waiting for you to ask! Pray to Him often and use the opportunity to grow closer to Him!

Jesus is constantly interceding for us with the Father, helping us with our requests. He relates to us and mediates our concerns. Keep yourself from sin so your prayers are not hindered. Pray for forgiveness—Jesus’s blood will cleanse you.

The Holy Spirit is constantly teaching us how to pray more properly. He has given us instructions and examples in the Scriptures that show us what God wants. Read the Bible often and listen! God is speaking to you.

Prayer is a wonderful blessing, and God has worked very hard to allow it.

Take hold of this opportunity—pray hard and pray often, and God will bless you.